Legal Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the legal terms you will meet in a frozen account or mule account case.
Plain meanings for the legal and banking words you will hear. Browse by theme or look for the word in your letter.
Banks and freezes
Words used by banks, regulators and payment apps when an account is flagged.
Frozen Account
A bank account you can no longer withdraw from or transact on, held while an authority investigates the funds.
Freeze Order
A legal order that stops money moving in or out of a bank account while it is investigated.
Account Restriction
When a bank limits some features, such as outgoing transfers, but keeps your account open.
Account Termination
When a bank closes your account for good and ends the banking relationship, not just pauses it.
Compliance Hold
A temporary block your bank places on your account while it checks activity for legal concerns.
Blacklisted Account
A bank account flagged as linked to fraud, such as one listed on the police Semak Mule system.
Transaction Monitoring
The ongoing checks banks run on account activity to spot signs of fraud or money laundering.
Suspicious Transaction (STR)
A suspicious transaction is account activity a bank sees as odd or risky enough to warrant closer attention.
Suspicious Transaction Report
A report your bank files with the authorities when it suspects an account is linked to crime.
KYC (Know Your Customer)
KYC is the bank's process of verifying who you are before and during a business relationship.
EDD (Enhanced Due Diligence)
EDD is a deeper level of customer checking a bank applies to higher-risk situations, beyond standard KYC.
Source of Funds Explained
Source of funds means where the money in an account came from and how you can show it is legitimate.
Financial Institution
A financial institution is a licensed body such as a bank that holds deposits and processes payments.
Digital Banking
Banking done through apps and websites, including digital banks that operate online without physical branches.
DuitNow
Malaysia's instant transfer service that lets you send money using a phone number, IC or QR code.
E-Wallet
A phone app that stores money electronically so you can pay, receive and transfer funds.
P2P Trading
Two people exchange currency or crypto directly and settle by bank transfer, with no middleman holding the money.
Credit Score Explained
A credit score is a number rating how likely you are to repay borrowing.
CTOS
A Malaysian credit reporting agency; its records are separate from a police mule flag or bank freeze.
CCRIS Explained
CCRIS is Bank Negara Malaysia's central credit reporting system that records your loans and repayment history.
Bank Negara Malaysia
Malaysia's central bank, which supervises the banking system but does not run mule-account criminal investigations.
BNM: Bank Negara Malaysia
The common acronym for Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank you may contact about a bank's conduct.
Bank Ombudsman Explained
The bank ombudsman is the Financial Markets Ombudsman Service (FMOS), an independent body that resolves disputes with banks.
Offences and laws
The offences and Acts behind mule account cases, explained simply.
Mule Account
A bank account used to receive or move money linked to crime, sometimes without the holder fully realising it.
Akaun Keldai
The Malay term for a mule account, literally a donkey account that carries criminal money for others.
Section 424A
The Penal Code offence of possessing or controlling someone else's account or payment instrument without lawful authority.
Section 424B
The Penal Code offence of surrendering control of your own bank account to another person.
Section 424C
The most serious of the Penal Code mule-account offences: using an account for transactions without a lawful purpose.
Section 424D
This section is only a list of definitions for the mule-account offences, with no penalty of its own.
The Penal Code Explained
The Penal Code is the main Malaysian law that defines criminal offences and their penalties.
Payment Instrument
A tool used to move money, such as a bank debit or credit card. The Penal Code uses the term in the mule-account offences.
Abetment
Abetment is intentionally encouraging, helping, or engaging with others to bring about a crime.
Accomplice
An accomplice is a person who helps or takes part with others in committing a crime.
Attempt
An attempt is a step taken toward committing a crime that falls short of completing it.
Conspiracy
Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit an unlawful act together.
Actus Reus
Actus reus is the guilty act, the physical conduct that the law treats as an offence.
Mens Rea
Mens rea is the guilty mind, the intention or knowledge a person had when doing an act.
AMLA
Malaysia's anti-money laundering law, used to freeze and trace accounts linked to unlawful activity.
AML/CFT Explained
AML/CFT is Malaysia's framework against money laundering and terrorism financing, built on the AMLA.
Anti-Money Laundering
The laws, banks and regulators that work to stop crime money being passed off as clean funds.
FATF Explained
FATF is the international body that sets global standards against money laundering and terrorism financing.
The Financial Services Act 2013
The main law under which Bank Negara regulates the banks in Malaysia.
The Criminal Procedure Code Explained
The Criminal Procedure Code sets out how criminal cases are investigated, charged, and tried in Malaysia.
The Evidence Act 1950 Explained
The law that decides what evidence a Malaysian court may accept, and how it is used.
Enforcement Order
An enforcement order is a legal direction that puts a decision into effect, such as freezing an account.
Forfeiture
The permanent loss of money or property to the State after a legal process, not just a temporary hold.
Seizure Order
A legal order that takes control of money or property so it cannot be moved or spent during an investigation.
Police and investigation
Who investigates, what a statement is, and how an investigation can end.
PDRM
The Royal Malaysia Police, the force that investigates mule-account cases and can freeze accounts.
CCID
The Commercial Crime Investigation Department of PDRM, the unit that investigates mule-account cases.
JSJK
The Commercial Crime Investigation Department of the Malaysian police, the unit that investigates mule-account cases.
NSRC: National Scam Response Centre
Malaysia's national scam hotline, used to report scams and ask banks to freeze accounts quickly.
Investigating Officer: The IO
The investigating officer (IO) is the police officer responsible for handling and building a specific case.
Investigation Paper: The IP
The investigation paper (IP) is the police case file that gathers the evidence and statements in a matter.
Complainant
A complainant is the person who makes the police report that starts a criminal case.
Suspect
A person the police believe may be involved in an offence and are investigating, but not yet charged.
Person of Interest
Someone the police want to speak to during an investigation, but who is not yet a formal suspect.
Statement to Police Explained
A statement is an account of what you know, given to and recorded by the police during an investigation.
Cautioned Statement Explained
An older term for a police statement taken after a formal warning. That procedure was removed in 2006.
Voluntary Statement Explained
A voluntary statement is one you give freely, of your own will, without threat, inducement, or promise.
Confession Explained
A statement admitting the offence, which generally can only be used if you made it voluntarily.
Remand: Detention for Investigation
A court order letting police hold a suspect for a set period while the investigation continues.
Chronology Explained
A chronology is a dated, ordered account of what happened, prepared to help your lawyer understand your case.
Compound: Settling Without Prosecution
A compound is an offer to settle certain offences by paying a sum, instead of going through a full prosecution.
NFA: No Further Action
NFA means the authorities decide not to proceed with a case, at least for now, without a charge.
Courts and court process
The courts, people and steps you meet once a case is charged.
Charge Sheet
A charge sheet is the formal court document that sets out the exact offence you are accused of.
Accused
The accused is the person formally charged with an offence and brought before a court to answer it.
DPP: Deputy Public Prosecutor
A DPP is a government prosecutor who decides whether to charge and then conducts the case in court.
Bail: Release Pending the Case
Bail is a court-approved release of an accused person, usually on conditions, while the case continues.
Surety: The Person Who Guarantees Bail
A person who pledges to make sure the accused attends court, often by standing behind the bail sum.
Mention Date
A short court hearing where your case is listed for an update, not for a full trial.
Magistrates' Court
A lower criminal court that generally hears less serious offences and handles early stages of a case.
Sessions Court
A criminal court above the Magistrates' Court that generally hears more serious offences.
High Court
A superior court that hears the most serious cases and also handles appeals from the lower courts.
Trial
The court hearing where evidence is tested and the judge decides whether the charge is proven.
Prosecution Case
The evidence and arguments the prosecution presents to prove the criminal charge against you.
Prima Facie Case
A prima facie case is one that, if left unanswered, would be enough to support a conviction.
Defence Case
The defence case is the stage where an accused answers the charge after the prosecution has closed its evidence.
Witness
A witness is a person who gives evidence in court about what they saw, heard, or otherwise know.
Examination-in-Chief
When the side that called a witness questions them first, before the other side tests the evidence.
Cross-Examination
When the other side's lawyer questions a witness to test and challenge their evidence.
Re-Examination
The final round of questioning, where the side that called a witness clarifies points from cross-examination.
Burden of Proof
The duty to prove a case, which in a criminal trial rests on the prosecution, not you.
Reasonable Doubt
Reasonable doubt is the high standard the prosecution must meet to prove guilt in a criminal case.
Acquittal
An acquittal is a court's decision that a charge is not proven, clearing the accused of that offence.
Conviction
A conviction is a court's formal finding that a charge has been proven, making a person guilty in law.
Plea Bargain: Negotiating a Plea
A plea bargain is a process where an accused and the prosecution discuss a plea and its possible terms.
Mitigation
Mitigation is the plea a defendant makes after conviction, asking the court for a lighter sentence.
Appeal
An appeal asks a higher court to check a decision, such as a conviction or sentence, for error.
Bar Council Explained
The Bar Council is the elected body of the Malaysian Bar that regulates lawyers and their professional conduct.
Legal Aid Explained
Legal aid is legal help at low or no cost for people who qualify and cannot afford a lawyer.
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